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The World One building in Mumbai will be one of the world's tallest residential towers

Luxury property prices in the Indian city are almost on par with many cities in the developed world

Ambitious developers see opportunities to create new communities in Mumbai's suburbs

In Mumbai, the spiritual home of Bollywood stars and starlets, a sparkling new icon is on the rise.

Stretching fully 442 meters (1,450 feet) above the Indian city's busy financial district and playing host to some 300 high-class apartments, the World One tower will become one of the world's tallest residential buildings anywhere when completed in 2014.

According to Abhinandan Lodha, deputy managing director of the Lodha Group (the real estate company behind the project) the giant structure is a symbol of the rapid development that has transformed Mumbai into a vibrant, modern destination in recent years.

"When you go to Dubai you see the Burj. New York, (the) Empire State and so on. But Mumbai didn't have a similar landmark like that which identified the city as being the next financial center of a global nation," Lodha said.

Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Locations for luxury – In the rich man's world of diversified asset portfolios and international investment opportunities, luxury property in the right market equals hot property.

But where do speculating millionaires and billionaires get the most bang for their buck? Is it in the suave sophistication of New York City, the ornate splendor of London's townhouses or the ultramodern apartments of central Shanghai?

We've compiled the following list using data gleaned from the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2013 to show the most valuable locations for luxury properties.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Monaco – The picturesque principality on the Mediterranean isn't known as the playground for the rich and famous for nothing. $1 million buys just 16 square meters of luxury property on average in Monaco. That's more expensive than anywhere else on earth according to Knight Frank. To put these measurements in perspective, 16 square meters equals roughly one sixteenth the area of a tennis court.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Hong Kong – A bustling Asian metropolis where space is tight, Hong Kong closely follows Monaco in the house price stakes. $1 million buys 19 square meters of luxury property here on average, making the special administrative region of China the most pricey city in Asia.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

London – London's high-profile mayor, Boris Johnson, has done his best to encourage the world's super-rich to take up residence in London. Money has poured into the British capital in recent years with one square meter of luxury property now costing between $41,900 and $46,300 on average. That equates to 23 square meters for every million dollars spent.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Geneva – Low taxes, beautiful views and an abundance of high-class living space, Geneva ranks fourth in Knight Frank's most valuable cities list. One square meter of property classified as luxury costs between $29,300 and $32,400 (32 sm for every $1 million)

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Paris – While it may not attract the super-rich in the same numbers as its nearby rival, London, the French capital of Paris still averages 38 square meters of luxury property for every $1 million.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Singapore – Just like Paris, Singapore averages 38 square meters for every $1 million spent on luxury property.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Moscow – Once the capital of the communist USSR, Moscow is today one of the priciest cities in the world (and not just for property). On average $1 million here buys just 43 square meters of luxury living space.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

New York – It may be home to the big money of Wall Street, but New York lags behind the world's other financial capitals when it comes to the cost of luxury property. That doesn't make things cheap though. The average price of a high-class pad in the Big Apple comes in at between $21,800 and $24,100 per square meter. That equates to 44 square meter for every million spent.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Sydney – A stylish Aussie city with a famous skyline that includes the world-famous Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Like New York, luxury property comes in at an average of 44 square meter for every $1 million.

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Photos:Where are the world's most expensive luxury properties?

Shanghai – There maybe fears of property bubbles and growing class divides, but the country's nouveau riche don't seem to care about splashing the cash in China. Especially in Shanghai where luxury property prices are higher than any other major Chinese city, growing by 10.8% in 2012 alone. One square meter here costs between $19,600 and $21,700) (roughly 48 square meters for every $1 million).

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"World One is our way to contribute in a different way, to say that we are globally on the map as India, globally on the map as Mumbai," he added.

Mumbai's new foundations

Lodha and his organization represent a new breed of high-class property developers reshaping the very foundations of Mumbai.

The price of luxury apartments in Mumbai almost rival cities like New York and London.

The company has 40 projects currently in the works across the fast changing metropolis where luxury flats are trading for as high as $8,000 per square meter and luxury villas at $12,000 per square meter.

These costly sums put Mumbai in the same league as some of the most expensive cities in the developed world and equate to "about 70% of residential prices compared to midtown Manhattan," explained Anuj Puri, chairman of real estate specialists Jones Lang LaSalle India. "Compared to St Johns Wood in London it is about 80% and to Happy Valley in Hong Kong it is about 90%," he added.

But while rising luxury property prices equals good news for those with the means to snap-up an early deal, the investing class represents just a tiny fraction of the 20 million Indians that call Mumbai home.

The vast majority live in far more modestly priced housing or travel from far outside to work in the city. With real estate and rents booming in downtown areas, however, many of Mumbai's factories and employers are relocating to sites on the city's outskirts.

This is a trend recognized by Sarath Chandran from the Committee for the Right to Housing who mourns the fact that an increasing number of the city's inhabitants are now being forced to travel for hours to reach their places of work.

"All the companies in Mumbai are there but the only thing is they have shifted their manufacturing from inner Mumbai to outer Mumbai," she said.

Cities in the suburbs

Out of this altering landscape, however, some see the opportunity to reshape Mumbai even further.

An artist's impression of how the World One project will appear.

The Lodha Group is behind plans to develop entire new towns from scratch on the outskirts of Mumbai to meet the changing needs and demography of the city.

One such development is Palava, a 16 square kilometer city that will offer schools, hospitals, its own police force and fire stations for 80,000 people.

"There is a real case for saying that someone needs to come together and say we are going to house industry in the way that it creates long term benefits for both the people living in it and for the city," said Lodha.

"(This) can only happen if you look at it from a 20 year perspective which can happen only towards the suburban areas of Mumbai."

Eager property investors such as Lionel Lobo agree. He bought four units in Palava for himself and his family in 2010 at a cost of $300 per square meter. Today the same space sells for $750 per square meter, a doubling of his initial investment in just three years.

But for a new generation of Indian home-buyers like, Lobo it's not all about the value of the returns.

"They have found this place is a nice place for the next generation and their wives and elders," he says.